The present invention relates to a method and to equipment for the handling and transfer of tobacco products in batches.
The invention finds application to advantage in complete lines for manufacturing tobacco products, cigarettes in particular, and is utilized for the purpose of feeding such products from a maker to a wrapping machine, or packer.
Conventionally, cigarettes are fed to the packer adopting two distinct methods. The first consists in connecting the cigarette maker directly to a hopper of the packer by way of a conveyor, along which the cigarettes are directed en masse. Using the second method, cigarettes emerging from the maker are ordered in containers, known as trays, which are stored in readiness and then emptied at the hopper of the packer when required.
The trays must be emptied at a relatively fast rate, but at the same time with particular care, in order to ensure that the cigarettes will not be disturbed from their orderly arrangement and suffer damage in the process.
To this end, patent EP 1308101 registered in the name of the present applicant discloses a unit for feeding cigars, by which a container to be emptied is positioned with the open top directed downwards onto a supporting surface furnished with an opening smaller than that of the container. The opening presented by the surface is displaced relative to the container in such a way as to restrict the flow of cigars and thus ensure a controlled release.
The unit in question is effective in avoiding damage to the cigars, but cannot sustain a rate of flow sufficient to match the demand of modern cigarette makers and packers, which operate at very high speeds.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method and equipment for batch handling and transfer of tobacco products, such as will be unaffected by the drawback described above.
In particular, the object of the invention is to devise a method and equipment for batch handling and transfer of tobacco products that will be compatible with high speed operation and feed cigarettes at an appreciably high rate of flow.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method and equipment allowing surplus tobacco products to be stored temporarily when the demand at the packer falls below the output from the cigarette maker, and thereafter supplied to the packer when demand exceeds the output of the cigarette maker.